Spaghetti And Meatballs in Chicago

19 restaurants in Chicago list spaghetti and meatballs on their menus. The cheapest is Taqueria El Ranchito at $11.99, listed as Spaghetti & Meatballs. The typical price across town is $17.00, and the dearest we found is $24.95 at Harry Caray's Italian Steakhouse, so the two ends of the list are $12.96 apart, which is 108% more for the same dish. Of the 19 kitchens listed, 5 charge more than a dollar under the typical price, 7 sit within a dollar of it and 7 charge more than a dollar over.

We track spaghetti and meatballs in 215 other areas and compare them all on spaghetti and meatballs across United States. The typical price there runs $15.99 at the median, so Chicago is dearer than most of them, with a lower typical price than 71 of the 215. The lowest best price anywhere we cover is $6.40 at Pavone's Pizza in Syracuse, NY, and the highest best price is $22.00 in Delray Beach, FL. The nearest area with it is Naperville, about 24 mi away, where the best price is $11.00.

Where is the cheapest spaghetti and meatballs in Chicago? Taqueria El Ranchito, at $11.99 on 2829 N Milwaukee Ave. The same dish reaches $24.95 elsewhere in town, so where you order it changes the bill by $12.96.

What should spaghetti and meatballs cost here? About $17.00 is the typical price across the 19 kitchens in Chicago that list it. Of the ones listed above, 5 are more than a dollar below that and 7 are more than a dollar above, so the typical price is a middle rather than a floor.

Is it cheaper nearby? The nearest area we track it in is Naperville, about 24 mi away, where the best price is $11.00. That is $0.99 less than the best here, though whether that is worth the journey is your call.

Why do the prices differ so much? We compare what each menu calls the same dish, and menus are not identical: portion, cut, sides and the kind of room you are sitting in all ride on the price, and none of that shows up in a number. Part portions and half sizes are kept out of this comparison, and a chain charging the same at several addresses is counted once, so the spread above is between genuinely different kitchens rather than the same one repeated.